Tom Brady and the New England offense finally got their act together on Sunday.

By Steven Sanchez

The Taunton Daily Gazette, Taunton, MA

By Steven Sanchez

Posted Sep. 22, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Sep 22, 2013 at 10:22 PM

By Steven Sanchez

Posted Sep. 22, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Sep 22, 2013 at 10:22 PM

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Tom Brady and the New England offense finally got their act together on Sunday.

After two weeks of indecisiveness with his rookie receivers, Brady found his comfort zone with his new targets and they came through in a big way.

“They're (rookies) doing a good job and working real hard to understand what we're trying to do on a weekly basis.” Brady said. “Today, we definitely made adjustments through the first, second quarter and we did good adjusting.”

Rookie wide receiver Kenbrell Thompkins caught two touchdown passes in a span of nearly seven minutes and Stephen Gostkowski kicked three field goals as the Patriots remain unbeaten this season with a 23-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before a sold-out crowd at Gillette Stadium.

“It was a good win,” said Brady, who finished the 25-for-36 for 225 yards with a pair of touchdown passes. “It was fun to be out there, fun to see us play better. So its nice to be 3-0.”

Thompkins caught his first two NFL touchdowns — one on a 16-yard strike from Brady and later a five -yard reception just before the half.

“I thought we played a good game overall, from the passing game to the running game,” Thompkins said “We have been preaching all week about having no negative plays.”

The Patriots improved their record to 3-0 for the eighth time in franchise history and first time since the 2007 season. It is the fourth time with a 3-0 start under New England head coach Bill Belichick.

“I thought the team did a good job today,” Belichick said. “We had a good week of practice and I think that showed up on the field. We got contributions from all three phases of the game. I thought our situational football was better … third down, red area, fourth down and kicking game. I thought we made some improvements.”

The Patriots ground game was productive, gaining 156 yards on 33 carries.

Brandon Bolden made his season debut with his first NFL start. Bolden finished the game with exactly 100 yards from scrimmage (51 yards rushing and 49 receiving). He set a career-high with five receptions and had a career-high run from scrimmage (46 yards) in the third quarter.

"I thought all of our backs ran well,” Belichick said

Rookie Aaron Dobson caught a team-high seven passes for 52 yard. He and Thompkins were targeted 17 times and caught 10 passes.

“We are trying to elevate and improve every week,” Dobson said. “I just wanted to come out here and play better and not think about what anybody thinks.”

Meanwhile the Patriots defense allowed just three points and 34 through three games — fewest since the 1979 season. New England has also forced a turnover for the 30th straight game dating back to 2011.

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The Patriots also stopped the Buccaneers four times on fourth downs and made Tampa Bay quarterback Josh Freeman's life miserable all game.

“I thought we played pretty good,” cornerback Alfonzo Dennard said. “Our D-line was on the quarterback and lot of credit goes to them.”

Tampa Bay won the opening coin toss and deferred.

The Patriots punted of their first possession and Tampa Bay drove to New England's 28 before attempting a 38-yard field goal by Rian Lindell that went wide right.

The Buccaneers put together a lengthy six-minute drive just before the end of the first quarter and scored the game's first points on a 30-yard field goal by Lindell.

Tampa Bay outgained New England in the first 12 minutes of action, 105-31.

After the Buccaneers failed to convert a fourth down play, the Patriots finally got their offense moving.

Brady connected with Dobson on a key fourth-down play and moments later with Thompkins for a 16-yard touchdown pass to give New England a 6-3 lead. Gostkowski added the point after.

For Brady, it was his 51st straight game with a touchdown pass (second all-time). Thompkins scored his first NFL touchdown.

The Buccaneers were stopped again on four time and Brady quickly moved the Patriots into scoring position. With 47 seconds left in the second quarter, Thompkins caught his second TD pass of the game — a five-yard strike from Brady — to give New England a 14-3 lead.

“That's a play that we work on every day in practice,” Thompkins said. “To go out there, for me to be open and to have Tom (Brady) trust me to throw me the ball felt good.”

Aqib Talib intercepted a Freeman pass, which set up a 53-yard field goal by Gostkowski just before halftime. It was Gostkowski's eighth career field goal of 50 yards or more, tying a club record with Adam Vinatieri.

NOTES: Matthew Slater, Leon Washington, Steve Beauharnais, Will Svitek, Danny Amendola, Rob Gronkowski and Chris Jones were inactive for Sunday's game. …The Patriots were 5-2 in their series meeting with the Buccaneers, including their first-ever overtime win in franchise's history in 1988.